Trial reportBMC public health2021
Can a 'rewards-for-exercise app' increase physical activity, subjective well-being and sleep quality? An open-label single-arm trial among university staff with low to moderate physical activity levels.
Trial report in BMC public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of mHealth Interventions on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Among Office Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2026Pooled it
- Exploring how physical activity influences life satisfaction in dual-shift workers, with a focus on the roles of sleep quality, subjective well-being, and the sleep environment.BMC public health · 2026Article
- The effects of exergaming on sleep quality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Review
- The effectiveness and acceptability of digital health interventions as tools to promote physical activity in primary care: an update scoping review.Primary health care research & development · 2025Article
- The impact of physical activity on academic burnout in Chinese college students: a moderated chain mediation model.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- The Influence of Incentive-Based Mobile Fitness Apps on Users' Continuance Intention With Gender Moderation Effects: Quantitative and Qualitative Study.JMIR human factors · 2024Article
- Promotion of Healthy Habits in University Students: Literature Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Exploring User Visions for Modeling mHealth Apps Toward Supporting Patient-Parent-Clinician Collaboration and Shared Decision-making When Treating Adolescent Knee Pain in General Practice: Workshop Study.JMIR human factors · 2023Article
- Home-based exercise training by using a smartphone app in patients with Parkinson's disease: a feasibility study.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Article
- A Systematic and Comparative Review of Behavior Change Strategies in Stress Management Apps: Opportunities for Improvement.Frontiers in public health · 2022Review
- Temporal associations between objectively measured physical activity and depressive symptoms: An experience sampling study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThis study examined the impact of a 'rewards-for-exercise' mobile application on physical activity, subjective well-being and sleep quality among 148 employees in a UK university with low to moderate physical activity levels.
methodsA three-month open-label single-arm trial with a one-year follow-up after the end of the trial. Participants used the Sweatcoin application which converted their outdoor steps into a virtual currency used for the purchase of products available at the university campus' outlets, using an in-app marketplace. The primary outcome measure was self-reported physical activity. Secondary measures included device-measured physical activity, subjective well-being (i.e., life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect), and self-reported sleep quality.
resultsThe findings show an increase in self-reported physical activity (d = 0.34), life satisfaction (d = 0.31), positive affect (d = 0.29), and sleep quality (d = 0.22) during the three-month trial period.
conclusionThe study suggests that mobile incentives-for-exercise applications might increase physical activity levels, positive affect, and sleep quality, at least in the short term. The observed changes were not sustained 12 months after the end of the trial.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.